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Colwyn Bay part of the National Junior League

15th Nov 2018

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THE LORD’S TAVERNERS JUNIOR LEAGUE BEGINS

Get ready for epic weekend of wheelchair basketball, as the Lord’s Taverners Junior League returns for the 2018/19 season.

Tipping off on the weekend of 17-18 November in Livingston, Colwyn Bay and Newark, the junior league is a vital part of British Wheelchair Basketball’s hugely successful player pathway.

Every member of the current men’s and women’s Great Britain Junior squads have previously competed in the Lord’s Taverners Junior League and have gone on to excel at international level. The GB Junior women’s team are two-time U24 European Champions and the current U25 World Champions, while the GB Junior men’s team are the current U23 World Champions.

The Lord’s Taverners Junior League is also critical in the selection of junior players to regional teams for School Games and Junior Championships.

British Wheelchair Basketball Participation Director, Jo Richards comments: “November welcomes the start of our junior competition season. The Lord’s Taverners Junior League is pivotal in underpinning the talent and skills development of young players within the UK.

“The Lord’s Taverners continued investment in British Wheelchair Basketball’s Junior Programme is proven to have significantly contributed to the world-wide success of the GB Teams. The Lord’s Taverners Junior league also enables high quality competitive opportunities for young players and has opened the sport of wheelchair basketball to new participants.”

The league allows players to enjoy extended periods of play on the court, providing players of all skill levels the opportunity to experience the strong team ethos and fun that makes wheelchair basketball an inclusive and accessible sport.

The league features 16 teams from across the UK, placed into five groups with teams playing each other over four weekends between November 2018 and March 2019.

On 27 April 2019, the top eight teams will compete in the ‘Elite 8’ competition, in which there will be 11 back-to-back, full length matches to determine the two teams who will compete in the Lord’s Taverners Junior League Final Game at EIS Sheffield on Saturday 25 May 2019.

Wheelchair Basketball is a fast-paced and fast-growing sport that allows non-disabled and disabled people to compete together in its domestic leagues and competition. It is a sport of skill and physicality on the court and provides competitors with the tools to become more resilient and independent in their everyday lives. In a recent survey, 78% of members said that wheelchair basketball has had a positive impact on their mental health, and 21% of all national league players are non-disabled.

There are currently 17,000 people playing the sport in the UK, with a potential participation growth of up to 70,000.

At elite level, the Great Britain men’s senior team have won eight Paralympic medals, they are the current World Champions (2018) and have been European champions three times in a row. The GB women’s senior team are current World Championship silver medallists and hold European Bronze medals six times in a row. The GB junior men and women’s teams are current U23 World Champions and U25 World Champions respectively. The GB Junior women are also two time U24 European Champions.

Britain has the largest women’s league in the world and has experienced a 50% increase in university participation in the past few years.